In re Gadlin (Cal. 2020)
California Supreme Court Opinion holding that a voter-passed constitutional amendment expanding parole eligibility to individuals convicted of non-violent felonies included non-violent sex offenses or people otherwise required to register.
State v. Batson (Wash. 2020)
Washington Supreme Court opinion holding that the requirement that anyone required to register as a sex offender in another jurisdiction was also required to register in Washington State was not an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority.
State v. Genson (Kan. Ct. App. 2020)
Kansas Court of Appeals opinion holding that violations of the Kansas Offender Registration Act are strict liability and do not violate substantive due process.
Does v. Wasden (9th Cir. 2020)
9th Circuit Court of Appeals case reversing the dismissal of various constitutional claims related to Idaho’s SORNA, including Ex Post Facto, Double Jeopardy, and Eighth Amendment.
State v. Townsend (Ohio 2020)
Ohio Supreme Court opinion holding that a state law designating certain individuals as sexually violent predators, subjecting them to enhanced criminal sentencing, could not be applied retroactively.
United States v. Bobal (11th Cir. 2020)
11th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion holding that lifetime computer restrictions for an individual on supervised release did not violate the First Amendment.
Johnson v. Superintendent (N.Y. 2020)
New York Court of Appeals opinion holding that New York’s practice of imprisoning some individuals convicted of sex offenses past dates they would otherwise be released for want of legal housing was not unconstitutional.
Hixson v. Missouri State Highway Patrol (Mo. Ct. App. 2020)
Missouri Court of Appeals opinion affirming the decision of a lower court that a Missouri resident was ineligble to seek removal from Missouri’s sex offense registry despite his removal from Illinois’ sex offense registry.
State v. Hotchkiss (Mont. 2020)
Montana Supreme Court opinion reversing a trial court’s imposition of conditions of supervision restricting internet access, where the underlying offense had no nexus with the internet.
Reed v. Long (M.D. Ga. 2020)
Federal trial court opinion granting a motion for summary judgment, finding that the placement of Halloween signs on plaintiffs’ property did not violate various constitutional rights.
Commonwealth v. Muhammad (Pa. Super. 2020)
Pennsylvania Superior Court opinion holding that, in the context of an individual convicted of custodial interference, the application of SORNA creates an irrebuttable presumption of future dangerousness and thus violates state constitutional principles.
State v. Hill (La. 2020)
Louisiana Supreme Court opinion declaring unconstitutional under the 1st Amendment a provision of Louisiana state law that required the driver’s licenses of those with past sex offense convictions to bear a mark identifying them as “sex offenders.”
McGroarty v. Swearingen (11th Cir. 2020)
11th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion holding that a lawsuit challenging Florida’s practice of publicly displaying the registration information of a plaintiff who no longer lived in the state was time bared.
United States v. Becerra (5th Cir. 2020)
5th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion vacating, on plain error review, a supervised release condition that imposed a ten year ban on internet and computer usage.
Commonwealth v. Harding (Mass. 2020)
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts opinion reversing a lower court finding that the appellant violated his probation by not registering addresses where he performed home repairs and for performing repairs at an address where a child was present.
B.K. v. Grewal (D.N.J. 2020)
New Jersey district court opinion dismissing a constitutional challenge to New Jersey’s sex offense registration scheme in the context of plaintiffs who had been adjudicated as juveniles.
Wright v. Alaska (9th Cir. 2020)
9th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion finding that where an individual is in custody for a failure to register offense, they are ‘in custody’ for habeas corpus purposes with regard to the predicate sex offense that required registration.
Hart v. Hillsdale County (6th Cir. 2020)
6th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion affirming the denial of a motion to dismiss on qualified immunity grounds a civil rights lawsuit brought by a plaintiff who spent 19 months in prison for failure to register where state law did not require him to register as a sex offender.
United States v. Lusby (9th Cir. 2020)
9th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion reversing the dismissal of a federal failure to register indictment where the government could not show that the interstate travel was not legally compelled.
Willman v. United States Attorney General (6th Cir. 2020)
Federal district court in the Eastern District of Michigan dismissing broad constitutional challenge to federal SORNA.
Millard v. Rankin (10th Cir. 2020)
10th Circuit opinion reversing lower court finding that Colorado’s sex offense registration scheme violated 8th and 14th Amendments.
Reid v. Lee (M.D. Tenn. 2020)
Tennessee federal district court opinion granting preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiff who alleged that the application of Tennessee’s SORA to him violated Ex Post Facto prohibitions.
United States v. Seward (1st Cir. 2020)
1st Circuit Court of Appeals opinion holding that venue for a federal failure to register prosecution is proper in the departure jurisdiction.
United States v. Mingo (2nd Cir. 2020)
2nd Circuit Court of Appeals opinion hold that, in the context of military sex offenses, SORNA does not violate the non-delegation doctrine nor the Administrative Procedures Act.
Commonwealth v. Lacombe et al. (Pa. 2020)
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Opinion holding that Pennsylvania’s second-generation sex offense registration statute is non-punitive and thus ex post facto challenges against it fail.
United States v. Diaz (2nd Cir. 2020)
2nd Circuit Court of Appeals opinion holding that SORNA does not violate Double Jeopardy or Cruel and Unusual Punishment provisions in the context of a military sex offense.
United States v. Montgomery (5th Cir. 2020)
5th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion vacating a federal conviction for failure to register, where the Appellant was no longer required to comply with federal SORNA.
People v. Legoo (Ill. 2020)
Illinois Supreme Court Opinion affirming a criminal conviction for entering a park as someone with a past sex offense conviction in order to retrieve their own child.
H.R. v. New Jersey State Parole Board (N.J. 2020)
New Jersey Supreme Court opinion affirming that, under certain circumstances, GPS monitoring for individuals on parole supervision for life is justified by the special needs exception to the warrant requirement of the 4th Amendment.
State v. Chapman (Iowa 2020)
Iowa Supreme Court opinion holding that where a defendant enters an Alford plea to an offense that is not a sexual offense, the state may not use the minutes of the plea to establish sexual motivation for registration purposes and that the proper remedy is a remand to develop the record.